It has become customary to decorate the graves of deceased individuals with artificial flowers. Such flowers closely mimic their natural counterparts in appearance but are slow to decay. In fact, artificial flowers are virtually impervious to weathering and can have useful lives of many months. Thus, it should not be necessary to frequently change artificial flower arrangements decorating graves.
Cemetery operators have come to learn of a drawback possessed by artificial flowers, namely they are much lighter than real flowers. A moderate breeze is all that is required to lift a bouquet of artificial flowers from a vase placed at a grave and send the bouquet tumbling toward the nearest fence. On a windy day, it is not unusual for some cemetery maintenance crews to pick up several dozen bouquets of artificial flowers. Since lost bouquets are not often marked, their owners seldom relocate them. The aggravating purchase of a replacement bouquet is required.